*MOYS totting up figures

*GFA promises to account

*US$170,000 on each Star so far

*Any financial loss to the state?

The Vuvuzelas went silent on Sunday, July 11, 2010 signaling the end of FIFA World Cup 2010. The Ghanaian soccer-loving public obviously had a good time, but at what cost to the country?

Ex-President Kufuor once famously retorted to questions about the expenditure on Ghana @ 50, the Jubilee House and the Airbus airplanes for executive travel, that Ghanaians know the cost of everything but the value of nothing.

For the costs involved in Ghana @ 50, some leading members of his administration are currently facing trial for causing financial loss to the state.

If they are found guilty, they could face long prison sentences. It is the cost, not the value that would be their undoing. Is it possible that Ghana’s outing at the World Cup could have caused some financial loss to the state?

Where costs are involved in the utilization of public funds, questions are bound to be asked.

There is no doubt that Ghanaians had great expectations during the just ended World Cup, even if the hand of the Uruguayan devil and Asamoah Gyan’s inaccurate foot eventually denied the Black Stars their rightful place in the roll call, but the question is, how much did all that cost the country and could the money not have been used for some more pressing priority issues?

Questions are being asked about how much it cost Ghana to be stopped by Suarez’s hand of the devil and Asamoah Gyan’s unlucky foot.

The Mail took up these questions with Ms. Akua Dansua, the Minister of Sports and her Deputy, Nii Nortey Duah.

The figures, they said, are not ready, but four sub-committees on the country’s participation are currently crossing their “Ts” and dotting their “Is” and by next month, the figures would be laid bare for Ghanaians to see, but for the moment, “No comment”.

Deputy Minister Nortey Dua, told The Mail last Friday that the government has learnt its lessons well and would respond to concerns bordering on probity and accountability in due course.

“We have various committees working on the World Cup and its related issues. They are yet to present their reports to the government. As and when a report is ready, we will let the whole world know how much it cost us,” he said.

The Ghana Football Association (GFA), FIFA’s accredited agent, is also auditing its accounts but a provisional figure of US$ 10 million is being mentioned as the likely gross figure.

The figure includes air fares, hotel bills, food, clothing, per diems and allowances to officials of the GFA, the entire playing body of the Black Stars, technical handlers, which include Coach Milovan Rajevac, his assistants Kwesi Appiah and Edward Ansah as well as other backroom staff ranging from medics to kit managers and other miscellaneous expenses.

An amount of money, for example, is said to have been spent on some unnamed coaches who supposedly were employed by the Association to spy on Ghana’s opponents in Group D, that is, Germany, Australia and Serbia.

Though the Ghana Football Association has not disclosed the names of the “spies”, sources say Ghana’s gold winning coach at the World Under 17 Championship in Ecuador in 1995, coach Sam Array who also doubles as the Director of the Gomoa Feteh Feyenoord Academy, was one of four persons employed to “spy” on the team’s opponents.

This is the second time under this present GFA that coach Arday has been tasked with the job of giving insider knowledge about Ghana’s opponents at the World Cup after he was handed the same assignment in 2006 in Germany together with veteran coach Jones Attuquayefio and others.

Whiles the GFA is yet to give a full detailed account of the total amount of monies expended on the work of these “spies”, an insider disclosed that the figure included round trip air fares, hotel accommodation, fees, per diems and a “token” for a job well done.

It is believed, the “spies”, after mounting surveillance on the teams, presented their reports to the technical handlers of the Stars which according to an official helped Milovan and his men a great deal.

One other area responsible for the US$ 10 million figure is the hotel costs of the Black Stars’ stay in South Africa.

Although FIFA, the organizer of the tournament was originally billed to foot the team’s accommodation costs per the tournament’s rules of engagement, Ghana’s team rejected the initial accommodation facility provided in Pretoria.

The GFA had argued that the Pretoria facility didn’t quiet match up to international standards hence the rejection.

This meant the Ghanaian team had to cater for its own accommodation of preference, which cost US$ 900 per player per day.

In defense of the GFA’s actions, an official said considering the fact that the same facility charges US$ 4,500 for a night’s stay, Ghana got a bargain.

For their three weeks stay in South Africa, the team had to shuttle between different hotel facilities due to the gradual progression of the team from one stage to the other.

All these, came at some extra cost to the GFA.

And now to the participants pockets: Even with the team’s exit, each member of the playing body bagged US$ 150,000 as winning bonuses for matches against the USA, Serbia, and “compensation” for the draw against Australia (i.e., US$ 80,000 as appearance fee at the World Cup even before kicking a ball and US$ 50,000 for progressing into the quarter final stage and US$20,000 for the match against Uruguay).

This came out of a Government of Ghana US$ 19 million grant to the Ghana Football Association. On their return home, a further US$ 20,000 was promised each member of the playing team, rounding up the figure to US$170,000).

Coach Milovan Rajevac and his assistants also received US$20,000 and US$ 10,000 for other members of the technical team as well as officials of the GFA.

Adding to the figures are the traveling costs of the large contingent of the foreign legion of the Black Stars, some of whom are expected to leave the country by next week as the European season prepares to take off.

Apart from the value, which is unquantifiable, did the country make a loss or gain by participating in the June 11 to July 11 event?

The President of the Ghana Football Association, at a post-World Cup media briefing held in Accra last week said the GFA recognizes the fact that it will have to account for the funds provided by the government.

He said considering the fact that the country gained US$ 14 million as prize money for being the 5th best team at the games, it cannot be said that the country made a loss.

“We are going to account for every penny we spent at the games. In accordance with the FA’s professional conducts and principles; we will account to the Ghanaian people every cedi we used at the games.

This FA’s accountability record is untainted and we won’t allow this to do us in. We stand by those principles and we will live by them. We will ensure that your monies are well catered for,” he said at the media briefing.

He said the balance of US$ 4Million to be accrued from the US$14Million from FIFA, would be invested into the game and announced that at the appropriate time, the GFA and the Sports Ministry would meet to decide the way forward on how the balance should be used.

With the Black Princesses, Ghana’s Under 20 female National team already in Germany for the World Under 20 Championship. the GFA might be compelled to fall on some of the monies left to finance their stay in Germany.

The government is likely to ask for a refund of the US$ 19 million it gave to the GFA since the money from FIFA will take care of the GFA’s worries.

The government will be looking at the possibility of using parts of the funds to on the construction of the Cape Coast Stadium to raise its standard to those of Essipong and Tamale.

A sticking point in the accounting would be the government’s funding of some 1,600 football fans to watch the games in South Africa up to the group stages and an additional unknown number that had been left stranded for a while at the El Wak Stadium in Accra and later airlifted to South Africa.

Various government spokespersons have issued conflicting statements as to who exactly footed the bill of the stranded fans and have been explained away that “they were airlifted by some concerned Ghanaians” and “their bills were paid for by some well wishers” which at a point, prompted Deputy Minister of Information Okudzeto Ablakwa to say the government should let the Ghanaian public know where it got its funding from.

With South Africa 2010 over, issues of accountability and transparency would now take centre stage when the country receives and digests the Government of Ghana and GFA’s accounts.

Would it be another Ghanaian exercise in knowing the cost but ignoring the value – for after all, out of 32 countries, Ghana ended up in the top 8, ahead of the likes of England, France, and Italy?